A FIGHTING fit father of two is celebrating completing a landmark 40th marathon.

Now Ian Young from Prestwick has his sights set on notching the 50 milestone in 2020.

The Ayr Seaforth member dusted down his spikes after he got the running bug in 2003 and has never really looked back.

He said: “I was living in London and used to watch the marathon, it looked good to be part of.

“I quite fancied it and ran the race for the first time 16 years ago and enjoyed it.

“Now I have run London 10 times and have also run marathons in Boston, Chicago, Belfast, Liverpool, Manchester and Paris.

“I really enjoyed Boston and had an opportunity to see round the Freedom Trail as we spent a few days there.”

While he runs for pleasure Ian, who is married to Fiona and has two sons, Mark and Jamie (both 14) has raised sizeable sums of money over the past 10 years for Sparks.

The charity support families with premature babies and another charity for blind children.

He said: “They are both good charities to support.

“Mark and Jamie were both born prematurely so that’s why we support Sparks.”

The Scottish Power engineer, however, is not resting on his laurels and will continue to pound the streets to line up in the 26.2 mile events, which are become increasingly popular.

He said: “I will keep running and my aim is to see if my 50th race can be the one in New York, which is the 50th anniversary event.

“It would be special to be part of that.

“I would encourage other people to get involved in marathon running.

“It’s great fun.”